First of all, a few days ago on the other site I posted asking people for suggestions on how to sleep better. I have been having a really hard time lately with sleep, waking up multiple times in the night and staying awake for hours. I was getting desperate. Y’all really came through! I got some good suggestions that I will be taking to my doctor tomorrow to see what she thinks, but most of all I received prayer. And let me tell you, it worked. Three days ago, I only woke up four times in the night and only stayed awake for about an hour. Two nights ago, I again only woke up four times, but this time I only stayed awake for thirty minutes or so. Last night I only woke up twice! And I went back to sleep immediately. And I got an extra three hours sleep after the boys left today. So thank you for that and keep up the prayers! I will need to be well-rested as I get through this next little bit. (I will be posting in the next couple of days about what, exactly, peritoneal mesothelioma is and how it affects me, as well as about the chemotherapy I will be receiving.)

Also, a huge thank-you to my Aunt J for really putting things in perspective for me. I had a day where I was really feeling down about this disease being incurable. Her exact words were “Take it from the parent of a diabetic-any condition that can be ‘managed’ trumps incurable!” Um, hello, stop feeling sorry for yourself – it’s going to be okay! It would have never in a million years occurred to me to compare this to diabetes, but we’re basically talking the same thing. I will have to medicine for the rest of my life to be healthy, just as my cousin does. And he lives a very full life.

Other praises: I have amazing friends and family. Seriously. This weekend was full and fantastic, with a family birthday party on Sunday and an awesome friend watching my kid on Saturday so the hubs and I could go see a movie we have waited four years to go see! But most of all I have to shout out to my parents for the amazing people they are. Friday night their neighborhood hosted a Relay for Life. Unbeknownst to my parents, their neighbors and people from their church had been buying luminaries in my honor all week. For those of you that don’t know, a luminary can be purchased in honor of a living cancer survivor or as a tribute to one who has passed. They are $5 apiece and all of the money goes to cancer research. In all, 342 luminaries were purchased in my honor. They were all over their community. My dad sent me a video of him on his golf cart driving around filming them all. The video is 12 minutes long. Think about that. It took him twelve minutes on a golf cart to see all of the luminaries that were purchased in my honor. Bear in mind that while I know a few of these people, for the most part I don’t. This was a tribute to my parents as much as it was for me. I’m happy that cancer research is being helped in this way – for me!

I should be posting a little more regularly over the next few days, with more about my disease and chemotherapy, so keep an eye out!

Oh, you sound so much better. You know, a couple of years ago we lost my nephew, Chess, to Cystic Fibrosis, which is also incurable. His 8 year old brother also has it. There is nothing that we can do but pray, like for you. Anyway, Mandy has been tested and she is a “carrier” of CF, which means that if Jerry is also a carrier then she has a one in four chance of her baby having it. As we pray for you, will you pray for us too? You are right your parents are amazing. She is the only close family I have left and she always listens to me and prays for me too. You and I are both so lucky. And him, what can I say? One of the best!!! Love you much